ShareThisIf you're a Green Bay Packers or Pittsburgh Steelers fan here in North Texas, I can understand the temptation.
Your favorite football team is playing in the biggest sporting event of 2011, and they'll be only two hours away.
Throw in the prestige of attending Super Bowl XLV in the monstrosity that is Cowboys Stadium, and the allure is certainly very appealing.
I hate to be the voice of reason, but don't do it. Don't go. Don't spend your life savings or sell a kidney for a few fleeting hours.
The cheapest ticket I could find online the other day was for $2,675 on stubhub.com in the bring-your-binoculars section of Auxiliary 348 A.
The most expensive I found was at www.superbowl-tickets.org.
How about coughing up $674,000 so that you and 24 of your closest (or richest) friends can enjoy a Hall of Fame suite on the 40-yard line?
If you divvy that up equally, it breaks down to almost $27,000 per person. I'd make your amigos pony up beforehand.
As preposterous as those prices sound, it's still a better value than Jerry Jones' latest money grab.
I expected the outlandish ticket prices. I won't be shocked if a hot dog and Coke at the game runs you more than a $20.
And I'm not surprised that Jones is offering a special Super Bowl XLV stadium tour for $40 a pop. Strike while the iron is hot, right?
But last week's announcement of outdoor Plaza Party tickets becoming available was greediness at it's finest.
If you haven't heard, for only $200 you can go watch the game on large televisions right outside the stadium. You have to buy a package of four tickets, so be prepared to sucker three buddies into the scam.
Somehow, that "seat" will count toward the official Super Bowl attendance. Funny, I was always under the impression you had to enter a stadium before you attended a sporting event.
It's like going to see the doctor, writing a co-pay check when you get to his office and then the nurse sending you home with a verdict based on your symptoms.
Oh, I forgot to mention the part about the doctor's office being outside in the freezing weather.
Did you really see the doctor? Nope. Are you really going to the game, or just paying for the most expensive watch party around?
At least Jones is kind enough to offer a free parking pass and scarves to the knuckleheads who wish to attend the Plaza Party. He should supply the beer, too.
As for me, I'll be watching the game on a nice television in a comfortable chair in a heated house.
Being inside Cowboys Stadium is probably better, but my life savings will be intact and I won't have to wait 20 minutes to use the restroom.
(Zach Duncan writes for the Wichita Falls Times Record News in Texas.)
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